Recto: a study of the off-hind leg and quarters of a horse; studies of the legs of horses. Verso: a study of a horse moving to the right, the off-fore leg raised, the quarters slightly indicated. Melzi's number 15.

Late in life Leonardo planned a third equestrian monument, following on from the abandoned monument to Francesco Sforza (see RCIN 912357, 912358) and the unexecuted Trivulzio monument (RCIN 912353, 912355, 912356). The only evidence of this putative late project is a coherent group of drawings studying a rearing or pacing horse (with or without a rider) and the anatomy of the horse. All are drawn on French paper in Leonardo’s delicate late style, in black chalk occasionally reinforced with pen and ink.

On the reverse of this sheet is a glimpse in black chalk of the muscular horse from three-quarters behind, in foreshortening and a little from below, as if looking up at the monument on its pedestal. Though this is one of the most sketchily drawn studies it is also one of the most evocative, conveying the weight and majesty of Leonardo’s conception.

Text adapted from Leonardo da Vinci: A life in drawing, London, 2018